BYD said its August vehicle sales fell 5.9 percent from July

The August sales of BYD Co. Ltd., a Chinese car and battery maker backed by Warren Buffett, decreased by 5.9% from July because of fierce competition and the slowing growth in China.

The company sent an email to Reuters divulging that BYD, which is 10% owned by Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., recorded sales of 31,069 vehicles in August, a 19% drop from the same month last year.

The company did worse than its rivals as overall car sales in China increased by 59% in August on year. Paul Lin, a spokesman at BYD Auto, the car manufacturing unit of the group, said that overall car sales in China were “weak” in July and August as several carmakers reduced their prices.

For the first eight months of 2010, vehicle sales had gone up by 43.4% to 353,129 units, standing for about 59% of BYD's revised sales target of 600,000 for the entire 2010. Lin said that the company will be watching out for September and October, which are typically known as the best months for auto sales.

Lin cited that BYD launched two new models, the M6 and L3, in late August, helping improve sales for the rest of the year.

The S6 will be launched by the end of the year. Auto sales in China are returning to a normal rate from the rapid growth levels seen last year and at the start of 2010, when sales were boosted by the government’s stimulus measures. [via autonews - sub. required]